What If Creativity Looked Like a Garden? with Dominique Begnaud

<p>What if the most creative thing you did this year was grow something?</p><p><br></p><p>Dominique Begnaud is an art therapist in St. Louis who works with art, play, and gardening — and it&#39;s the gardening that we couldn&#39;t stop thinking about. She runs art and garden groups in community nonprofits and schools, and her practice is built on a simple idea: that tending something is a creative act.</p><p><br></p><p>In this conversation she gets specific about what making art with plants actually looks like and how this changes with the seasons. She talks about what happens when a client who struggles to stay present tries hammering flowers. And she tells us about building gardens where ever she can find space and how this changes therapy spaces and communities.</p><p><br></p><p>This is an art therapy podcast built around creative community, and Dominique&#39;s work is a reminder that community doesn&#39;t require a beautiful space. Sometimes it just requires a pot, a few seeds, and the patience to wait six weeks for something to happen.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>In this episode, they discuss:</strong></p><ul><li>How flower pounding actually works, and what a hammer does for someone who has trouble staying in the present</li><li>The difference between saying gardening is your therapy and practicing gardening therapy, and why Dominique is careful about that line</li><li>The surprising places gardens can grow </li><li>Why she tells clients they can just try something once, with no commitment to ever doing it again</li><li>The one plant she thinks everyone should try growing, which is beautiful, edible, and works for both pressing and pounding</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Resources &amp; Links </strong></p><ul><li>Dominique Begnaud — <a href="https://www.createplaygrowtherapy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">therapy website</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/create.play.grow.ts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">instagram</a></li><li><a href="https://bowoodfarms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bowood Farms</a>, St. Louis</li><li><a href="https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Missouri Botanical Garden</a> </li><li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4o7TCRhXjY4i6NfWd9GyG4?si=_Lw1uJA8TciEF56RQ7ifnA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Episode</a> about letting yourself be bad at something</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a